Brilliant little diamond was fatally flawed

Jo Davison

Columns and columns are being written about her; flowers and more flowers are being left on pavements for her. She died on Saturday and already she’s a legend.

Of course it’s a loss to music; her voice was awesome, her potential enormous, had not the addictions pinned her down. But that’s nothing to the loss felt by her parents. She was the baby girl they still had to protect, at the age of 27. Mostly from herself.

Life, keeping Amy alive, must have been hell for Mitch and Janis Winehouse, the parents from whom she was inseparable.

Like thousands of parents the length of this country, they fought endlessly to get her ‘clean’ and keep her safe. They poured love into her, hoping it would be the antidote to the vodka, heroin and Ecstasy ruining the body they had always nurtured and nourished.

But their daughter is dead and although they must think it, the way every parent would do, it’s not their fault.

The brilliant little diamond they created was flawed.

Maybe that’s what made her so special, who knows.

The manager who spotted her talent when she was just 16 also recognised she was Trouble. To herself.

Maybe she would have got into drugs anyway. But the music industry must take the blame for her tragic demise. How huge the pressure of being heralded the most brilliant star in decades?

That this fragile young woman burned out probably won’t provoke any change in the industry. But the bereft Winehouses seem intend on changing something.

They want to launch a rehab foundation in her name. How great is that? It could help so many people like them and their baby girl.

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